Skilling the nation, empowering the citizen

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Jon Way Ng
Keyword(s):  
Lifelong Learning ◽  
The State ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Video Clips ◽  
Political Speeches ◽  
Collective Ethos ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract This paper focuses on what is referred to as the SkillsFuture initiative as the most current crystallization of the Singapore government’s lifelong learning policy, and the state-sponsored discourse associated with it. Adopting a critical discourse-analytic approach, the study examines a data set that cuts across various genres and media (i.e. political speeches, Internet website, video clips), covering both linguistic and (moving) visual instantiations, involving semiotic features like pronouns, modality, image design parameters, and importantly, metaphor. The paper seeks to provide insight into the ideological foundations of Singapore’s education-labour policies as an indication of the ideal(ized) Singaporean citizen-subject promulgated by the state, and how these are semiotically instantiated in state-sponsored discourse. In so doing, the analysis also considers the contextual specificity of the neoliberal-oriented values purveyed, as the individualizing tropes of neoliberalism discursively interact with what might be considered a post-Confucian Singaporean communitarian/collective ethos.

The Legitimating Power of Discourse

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-275
Author(s):  
Mustafa Menshawy
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Media Texts ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Culturally Embedded

Abstract In this article, I examine a corpus of texts that address the 1973 war; these texts cover the period from 1981 to 2011, marking the beginning and end of Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Utilizing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), I explore how Mubarak’s regime employed the war to legitimize its power and defend its policies by deploying longstanding culturally-embedded ‘macro themes’. These macro themes refer to the war as an overwhelming and undisputed ‘Egyptian victory’ and, more significantly, they portray Mubarak himself as ‘war personified/war personalized’. The analysis of linguistic and extra-linguistic features in al-Ahram newspaper (the mouthpiece of the state), among other media texts on the war, show how the discursive construction was made consistent, coherent and resonant in a managed context that characterized the political and media landscapes. Depending on unique access to those who produced, edited and even censored the texts under analysis, this method unravels a complex set of cultural messages and conventions about the war, and fills a lacuna in the literature by offering insight into the deliberate and well-coordinated process of shaping and reshaping a specific discourse for a specific purpose.

Transiting into Singaporean identity: Immigration and naturalisation policy

2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathews Mathew ◽  
Debbie Soon
Keyword(s):  
Manpower Planning ◽  
The State ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Policy Discourse ◽  
Optimal Composition ◽  
Skilled Labour ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Ideal

Debates in Singapore about immigration and naturalisation policy have escalated substantially since 2008 when the government allowed an unprecedentedly large number of immigrants into the country. This essay will discuss immigration and naturalisation policy in Singapore and the tensions that have been evoked, and how these policies are a key tool in regulating the optimal composition and size of the population for the state’s imperatives. It will demonstrate that although the state has, as part of its broader economic and manpower planning policy to import labour for economic objectives, it seeks to retain only skilled labour with an exclusive form of citizenship.  Even as the Singapore state has made its form of citizenship even more exclusive by reducing the benefits that non-citizens receive, its programmes for naturalising those who make the cut to become citizens which include the recently created Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ) is by no means burdensome from a comparative perspective. This paper examines policy discourse and the key symbols and narratives provided at naturalisation events and demonstrates how these are used to evoke the sense of the ideal citizen among new Singaporeans. 

When the State Speaks, What Should It Say?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey Brettschneider
Keyword(s):  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
The State ◽  
Hate Groups ◽  
New Approach ◽  
State Action ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Theory Of Value ◽  
The Right ◽  
Equal Citizenship ◽  
The Ideal

How should a liberal democracy respond to hate groups and others that oppose the ideal of free and equal citizenship? The democratic state faces the hard choice of either protecting the rights of hate groups and allowing their views to spread, or banning their views and violating citizens' rights to freedoms of expression, association, and religion. Avoiding the familiar yet problematic responses to these issues, this book proposes a new approach called value democracy. The theory of value democracy argues that the state should protect the right to express illiberal beliefs, but the state should also engage in democratic persuasion when it speaks through its various expressive capacities: publicly criticizing, and giving reasons to reject, hate-based or other discriminatory viewpoints. Distinguishing between two kinds of state action—expressive and coercive—the book contends that public criticism of viewpoints advocating discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual orientation should be pursued through the state's expressive capacities as speaker, educator, and spender. When the state uses its expressive capacities to promote the values of free and equal citizenship, it engages in democratic persuasion. By using democratic persuasion, the state can both respect rights and counter hateful or discriminatory viewpoints. The book extends this analysis from freedom of expression to the freedoms of religion and association, and shows that value democracy can uphold the protection of these freedoms while promoting equality for all citizens.

Fragmentation as a Challenge: Tribal and Sectrarian Identities in the Middle East

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-85
Author(s):  
Kleanthis Kyriakidis
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Arabian Gulf ◽  
The State ◽  
Islamic Revolution ◽  
Direct Response ◽  
Tribal Identity ◽  
Gulf States ◽  
The Ideal

In the Arabian Gulf two identities can be really considered almost as important as the national one: the tribal and the sectarian ones. Someone should expect that the reinforcement of these identities is a direct response to inequality and processes of exclusion. Furthermore, parochial tribalism is expected to arise as the protector of cultural heritage, especially in a region where the ex-pats vastly outnumber the locals. Nonetheless, both statements are far from truth. In this paper we will analyze how in the Gulf, sectarian identity came to play a significant role only after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran and it keeps on surviving through mainly instigations and Iranian propaganda, provocations and support. It should be noted that Sunni identity has been allegedly subjugated in other Middle East States (mainly in Syria and Iraq) but in the Gulf the sectarian challenge stems from the Shia communities, openly supported by Tehran. Strangely enough, the tribal identity does not pose that much of a challenge, since tribes are more the friend than the enemy of all Gulf States. Actually, these countries could not have survived without the loyalty and commitment of the tribes not only to the Royal families but also to the idea of the State and the ideal of the Nation – and Gulf Nations do protect their cultural heritage. Keywords: Gulf, Globalization, Fragmentation, Sectarianism, Tribalism

Engagement Through the Diaspora Channel

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael S. Danielson
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Statistical Models ◽  
State Level ◽  
The State ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Municipal Level

The first empirical task is to identify the characteristics of municipalities which US-based migrants have come together to support financially. Using a nationwide, municipal-level data set compiled by the author, the chapter estimates several multivariate statistical models to compare municipalities that did not benefit from the 3x1 Program for Migrants with those that did, and seeks to explain variation in the number and value of 3x1 projects. The analysis shows that migrants are more likely to contribute where migrant civil society has become more deeply institutionalized at the state level and in places with longer histories as migrant-sending places. Furthermore, the results suggest that political factors are at play, as projects have disproportionately benefited states and municipalities where the PAN had a stronger presence, with fewer occurring elsewhere.

Towards Interconnected Blockchains

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
Ankur Lohachab ◽  
Saurabh Garg ◽  
Byeong Kang ◽  
Muhammad Bilal Amin ◽  
Junmin Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
Layered Architecture ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Effective Development ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Game Changer

Unprecedented attention towards blockchain technology is serving as a game-changer in fostering the development of blockchain-enabled distinctive frameworks. However, fragmentation unleashed by its underlying concepts hinders different stakeholders from effectively utilizing blockchain-supported services, resulting in the obstruction of its wide-scale adoption. To explore synergies among the isolated frameworks requires comprehensively studying inter-blockchain communication approaches. These approaches broadly come under the umbrella of Blockchain Interoperability (BI) notion, as it can facilitate a novel paradigm of an integrated blockchain ecosystem that connects state-of-the-art disparate blockchains. Currently, there is a lack of studies that comprehensively review BI, which works as a stumbling block in its development. Therefore, this article aims to articulate potential of BI by reviewing it from diverse perspectives. Beginning with a glance of blockchain architecture fundamentals, this article discusses its associated platforms, taxonomy, and consensus mechanisms. Subsequently, it argues about BI’s requirement by exemplifying its potential opportunities and application areas. Concerning BI, an architecture seems to be a missing link. Hence, this article introduces a layered architecture for the effective development of protocols and methods for interoperable blockchains. Furthermore, this article proposes an in-depth BI research taxonomy and provides an insight into the state-of-the-art projects. Finally, it determines possible open challenges and future research in the domain.

Parameter study and optimization design of a hat oblique tunnel portal

2021 ◽  
pp. 095440972110140
Author(s):  
Zijian Guo ◽  
Tanghong Liu ◽  
Wenhui Li ◽  
Yutao Xia
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Optimization Design ◽  
Pareto Front ◽  
Optimization Problem ◽  
Optimization Method ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Parameter Study ◽  
Buffer Structure ◽  
Tunnel Entrance ◽  
The Ideal

The present work focuses on the aerodynamic problems resulting from a high-speed train (HST) passing through a tunnel. Numerical simulations were employed to obtain the numerical results, and they were verified by a moving-model test. Two responses, [Formula: see text] (coefficient of the peak-to-peak pressure of a single fluctuation) and[Formula: see text] (pressure value of micro-pressure wave), were studied with regard to the three building parameters of the portal-hat buffer structure of the tunnel entrance and exit. The MOPSO (multi-objective particle swarm optimization) method was employed to solve the optimization problem in order to find the minimum [Formula: see text] and[Formula: see text]. Results showed that the effects of the three design parameters on [Formula: see text] were not monotonous, and the influences of[Formula: see text] (the oblique angle of the portal) and [Formula: see text] (the height of the hat structure) were more significant than that of[Formula: see text] (the angle between the vertical line of the portal and the hat). Monotonically decreasing responses were found in [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text] and[Formula: see text]. The Pareto front of [Formula: see text] and[Formula: see text]was obtained. The ideal single-objective optimums for each response located at the ends of the Pareto front had values of 1.0560 for [Formula: see text] and 101.8 Pa for[Formula: see text].

scholarly journals “Do you understand (me)?” negotiating mutual understanding by using gaze and environmentally coupled gestures between two deaf signing participants

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Sivunen ◽  
Elina Tapio
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seeker ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The State ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Semiotic Resources ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Language Competencies ◽  
Unrealistic Expectations ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractIn this paper we explore the use of multimodal and multilingual semiotic resources in interactions between two deaf signing participants, a researcher and an asylum seeker. The focus is on the use of gaze and environmentally coupled gestures. Drawing on multimodal analysis and linguistic ethnography, we demonstrate how gaze and environmentally coupled gestures are effective semiotic resources for reaching mutual understanding. The study provides insight into the challenges and opportunities (deaf) asylum seekers, researchers, and employees of reception centres or the state may encounter because of the asymmetrical language competencies. Our concern is that such asymmetrical situations may be created and maintained by ignoring visual and embodied resources in interaction and, in the case of deaf asylum seekers, by unrealistic expectations towards conventionalized forms of international sign.

scholarly journals A Benchmark and Evaluation of Non-Rigid Structure from Motion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Hoppe Nesgaard Jensen ◽  
Mads Emil Brix Doest ◽  
Henrik Aanæs ◽  
Alessio Del Bue
Keyword(s):  
Computer Vision ◽  
Structure From Motion ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Rigid Structure ◽  
Public Data ◽  
3D Information ◽  
Further Development

AbstractNon-rigid structure from motion (nrsfm), is a long standing and central problem in computer vision and its solution is necessary for obtaining 3D information from multiple images when the scene is dynamic. A main issue regarding the further development of this important computer vision topic, is the lack of high quality data sets. We here address this issue by presenting a data set created for this purpose, which is made publicly available, and considerably larger than the previous state of the art. To validate the applicability of this data set, and provide an investigation into the state of the art of nrsfm, including potential directions forward, we here present a benchmark and a scrupulous evaluation using this data set. This benchmark evaluates 18 different methods with available code that reasonably spans the state of the art in sparse nrsfm. This new public data set and evaluation protocol will provide benchmark tools for further development in this challenging field.

Endwall Blockage in Axial Compressors

1999 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Khalid ◽  
A. S. Khalsa ◽  
I. A. Waitz ◽  
C. S. Tan ◽  
E. M. Greitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Tip Clearance Flow ◽  
Axial Compressors ◽  
Clearance Flow ◽  
Flow Features ◽  
Physical Insight ◽  
Level Loading ◽  
Stagger Angle ◽  
Insight Into

This paper presents a new methodology for quantifying compressor endwall blockage and an approach, using this quantification, for defining the links between design parameters, flow conditions, and the growth of blockage due to tip clearance flow. Numerical simulations, measurements in a low-speed compressor, and measurements in a wind tunnel designed to simulate a compressor clearance flow are used to assess the approach. The analysis thus developed allows predictions of endwall blockage associated with variations in tip clearance, blade stagger angle, inlet boundary layer thickness, loading level, loading profile, solidity, and clearance jet total pressure. The estimates provided by this simplified method capture the trends in blockage with changes in design parameters to within 10 percent. More importantly, however, the method provides physical insight into, and thus guidance for control of, the flow features and phenomena responsible for compressor endwall blockage generation.

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